With resolution, facing a relentless partisan storm, he managed—in just four years—to remake the federal judiciary, rebuild the American economy, reshape the Middle East, end the ISIS territorial caliphate, educate Americans on China’s true aims, reorient allied defense contributions and expectations, bring American troops home, end Iran’s free pass on nuclear weapons, halt runaway North Korean missile and nuclear tests, secure the southern border, and affirm fundamentals in our Bill of Rights, including free speech, free exercise of religion, freedom of assembly, the Second Amendment, and transparency in criminal justice.

To that, add a politically incorrect—that is, freedom-centric—approach to public often blunt, impolite, and unpolished but authentic in an age of plastic talk. Trump elevated the public’s understanding of media bias, dishonesty, and partisanship. He defended unborn children, articulated why America’s founding generation was unrivaled, and paid tribute to America’s veterans and law enforcement communities, as well as the nation’s exceptional, entrepreneurial, and risk-taking spirit. He apologized
to no one for America’s greatness.

FINANCIAL

Concretely, President Trump secured the passage of the largest tax relief bill since Ronald Reagan, unremittingly rolled back federal regulations, and triggered the fastest, broadest economic recovery on record, boosting employment across virtually every sector and along with increasing business creation, income, and stocks and returning US capital invested abroad.

His initiative cut corporate tax rates to 21 percent from 35 percent, creating powerful incentives to hire, invest, rehire, and reinvest. Against the odds, labor productivity rose, which liberal economists had said was “impossible,” while inflation remained in check and growth exploded.

Dozens Of data points prove the “middle-class miracle” that was Trump’s economy. Topping the list is wage growth. Liberals swore Trump could not raise wages—yet he did. Inflation-adjusted wage growth since 1980 averaged $4.05 per quarter. Under Obama, it was $3.20 per quarter. In Trump’s first three years, wage growth averaged a staggering $6.90 per quarter.

Even when brought low by coronavirus, Trump’s economy kept employers and stocks afloat. Month by month, Americans have clawed back, with faith in economic fundamentals and prayers that state lockdowns will end. While Trump was blamed for not federalizing the COVID-19 he honored the 10th Amendment, which bars federal mandates where is constitutionally reserved to the states and people.

One layer deeper, Americans will have this president to thank for significant new understandings. NO longer will Americans assume their federal government, without oversight, is on the right track. Trump made clear-and ironically, his impeachment affirmed—that due process, openness, and honesty in government are not always present. They should be.

JUDICIARY

Trump began restoring our federal judiciary to its non-activist, constitutionally limited origins, nominating and confirming 220 federal judges and filling 25 percent of the federal bench, including nominating 53 judges to the 12 federal circuits, as well as adding three Supreme Court Justices.

For perspective, while presidents have done more over two terms, few have done as much in one. A breakdown shows that FDR appointed eight justices in four terms, Eisenhower, Taft, and Grant appointed five in two, and others appointed three or four in two, but Obama, both Bushes, Clinton, Johnson, and Kennedy only got two justices, and others got one. Trump has influenced the future mightily with judges.

Similarly, Trump’s speeches, such as in Saudi Arabia and Poland, have been epic. Years from now, when historians cull his presidential papers, these speeches will stand out, as will his States of the Union, all historically grounded, idealistic, optimistic, and other-regarding in tone. Trump reminded us to to revere, and to celebrate America’s past, taking lessons from it.

INTERNATIONAL STAGE

On the international stage, many decry Trump’s protective trade policies, willingness to speak of American exceptionalism, power comparisons, national self-interest, and closing endless wars. The truth is, he has made valid points.

Even if the world is interconnected, laws of comparative advantage—in sectors like energy production, manufacturing, and services—still matter, as does rule of law, generally. Truth matters. If something is wrong, and the international community is party to that wrongness, it needs calling out. In places like the UN, WTO, and WHO, Trump did that.

With respect to ensuring US national security and buttressing collective security among allies, Trump was impolitely frank, often unnecessarily public, but his points were neither inapt nor arcane. Alliances only work when allies keep their word, and he sought that assurance from NATO and in numerous bilateral contexts. He put teeth behind UN and unilateral sanctions.

TRUMP FIRSTS

Other firsts include creating the Space Force, the first new military branch since 1947; architecting a new moon landing, planned for one man and one woman: killing two of the world’s most infamous terrorist leaders, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Oasem Soleimani; and assisting countless patriotic state legislators, governors, mayors, and members of Congress to win elections on the basic credo of maintaining America’s greatness.

In this process, Trump realigned the Republican Party, bringing into the fold more former Democrats and Independents; Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other minority voters; union members; law enforcement officers; veterans; young idealists; and older patriots, all bound together by their love of, appreciation for, and hope in our constitutional freedoms, opportunity, and individual liberty.

In a word, being something other than an ordinary, traditional politician taking risks no president has taken in decades, speaking candidly, questioning assumptions, and pushing new ideas in economics, foreign policy, national and border security, public dialogue, and government transparency, Trump brought hope to many who had lost it. The mission now is to hold that hope. In the end, that is
what idealists, patriots, and citizens do—they look backward with gratitude and forward with hope.

By Robert B. Charles, AMAC Magazine, Feb. 2021, pp 32-34

Please read POCKET WATCH along with considering how much you hold the device against your ear.  If a cell phone is your ONLY phone, please, for your health, get a headset or use in speakerphone mode.

[QE2 is] the program the Federal Reserve Board announced the day after the mid-term elections in which the Fed intends to print up between $600 billion and $1 trillion to buy US Treasury bills over the next 6 months.  In short, the Fed is going to create money out of nothing to buy our own debt that nobody else wants.  You know, a little like you paying off your mortgage with your American Express card.  Experts predict that this lunacy will further devalue the US dollar by as much as 20%.

The Germans are especially angry.  And with cause.  They still remember the experience of the Weimar Republic. After World War One, the Germans tried to pay off their debts by simply printing more paper money.  In 1914, 100,000 Marks meant a comfortable retirement.  By 1919 — just five years later — it wouldn’t buy a loaf of bread.  It reminds me of the song Larry Norman recorded back in 1970.  It was called, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.”  It described the conditions that would occur in the days just before the Rapture and afterward.  One line says, “Children died, the days grew cold, a piece of bread would buy a bag of gold.  I wish we’d all been ready.”

Is that what we’re facing soon?

I believe the answer to that question is “Yes!” Even just a few short years ago, the prospect of the United States of America facing total financial collapse was laughable.  Today, it’s not only a possibility, it’s a probability.  In fact, John Allison IV, the former CEO of BB&T, the nation’s tenth largest bank, says it is “a mathematical certainty.”  In fact, I believe it’s possible that the current administration is trying to force this collapse so that our nation can be merged into a new global order.  I’ve discussed that extensively on past programs.  No matter what the reason, though, it’s coming.  And probably coming sooner rather than later.

Iran went on the offensive after its industrial infrastructure was infected by the ‘Stuxnet’ computer worm. Though the Iranian government accused “the enemy,” it did not name any specific nation or nationalities. Instead, Iran’s security services arrested dozens of ‘cyberspies’ at the Bushehr, Natanz, Isfahan nuclear facilities and also in Tehran.

Particular attention has been paid to the many Russian scientists, technicians, and engineers who are in Iran building the nuclear plants and putting them on-line.

However, many assume that Israel is responsible for creating the worm and planting it. Independent computer security experts think they may have found further proof of that involvement. An interesting file labeled “Myrtus” has been found in the Stuxnet code. Many are speculating that the label is an obscure reference to the Biblical Book of Esther. That book details the story of how the Jews foiled a Persian plot against them.

As a clue, it’s too obvious. As a taunt, it’s priceless.

–>  Have a look at his thoughtful commentary here.

N. Y. Times: Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending[PDF 150KB]

According to this article, the risk, which played out in 2008, was known then; but, hey, the economy was OK so why not take alittle risk?

Written by Kerby Anderson

Let me begin with a provocative question: Is America going broke? It is a question that has been asked many times before. And when an economist asks the question, it creates quite a stir. Back in 2006, Laurence Kotlikoff asked: “Is the United States Bankrupt?”{1} He concluded that countries can go broke and that the United States is going broke due to future obligations to Social Security and Medicare. At the time, his commentary generated lots of discussion and controversy.

Two years later that same economist writing for Forbes magazine asked the question in a slightly different way: “Is the U.S. Going Broke?”{2} He pointed out that the federal government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac represented a major financial challenge. These two institutions issue about half of the mortgages in America, so that part of the bailout put the government on the hook for $5 trillion (if you consider the corporate debtthat is owed and the mortgage debt that is guaranteed).

But $5 trillion is effectively pocket change when you consider the real liabilities that are facing our government. He estimates that is on the order of $70 trillion. I have seen others estimate our unfunded liabilities at anywhere from $50 trillion to as high as more than $90 trillion. Let’s for the sake of discussion use the $70 trillion figure.

The $70 trillion figure actually represents the fiscal difference between the government’s projected spending obligations and all its projected tax receipts. He notes, “This fiscal gap takes into account Uncle Sam’s need to service official debt-outstanding U.S. government bonds. But it also recognizes all our government’s unofficial debts, including its obligation to the soon-to-be-retired baby boomers to pay their Social Security and Medicare benefits.”{3}

When we are talking about such large dollar amounts, it is hard to put this in perspective. Let’s focus on the challenge that the baby boom generation creates. There are approximately 78 million baby boomers who will be retiring over the next few decades. Each of them can expect to receive approximately $50,000 each year (in today’s dollars) during their retirement. OK, so let’s multiply 78 million by a $50,000 annual payment and you get an annual cost of $4 trillion per year.

Of course, these are just the obligations we know about. There are others potential costs and obligations that aren’t even calculated into the national debt. Housing prices certainly fit into that category. We know some of the obligations that were written into law but cannot predict what might take place in the future. And we don’t know how many banks in the future will fail and what that cost might be to the American taxpayer.

So in this article we will take the time to count the cost and answer the question, Is America going broke?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

I would imagine that if you asked most people a year ago what they know about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac they would probably respond that they know very little about these two corporations. But after congressional debates about various bailouts, most Americans know a lot more about these two institutions.

Fannie Mae is the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac is the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. They are stockholder-owned corporations and referred to as government sponsored enterprises, known as GSEs. The two of them are considered the largest financial companies in the world with liabilities of approximately $5 trillion.

The bailout of these insitutions has been controversial for a few reasons. First, these two GSEs are private companies which the government wants to help with taxpayer money. Economist John Lott believes “this whole approach is pretty dubious. If you subsidize risk, you get more of it. If you don’t have to bear the cost of the risk, why not shoot for the moon?”

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey says we are “privatizing gains while socializing losses.” Stockholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac already receive higher interest rates than Treasury securities because of higher risk of repayment. He suggests that the government repay 90 cents on the dollar rather than 100 percent.

In the midst of the debates about bailouts, we learned some vital lessons about the economy. For example, some have talked about the proposal to suspend the accounting rules of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act known as “mark to market.” Trying to understand this proposal forced us to get up-to-speed on economics and accounting.

We also learned that sometimes a regulatory agency may not have done a good job warning us of dangers. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight employs 200 people to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which are the government-sponsored entitles that own or guarantee nearly half of the nation’s residential mortgages. Just a few months before the collapse of Fannie and Freddie, the OFHEO issued a report that saw clear sailing ahead.

We also learned that in trying to do some good, government can do harm. During the 1990s the Treasury Department changed the lending rules for the Community Reinvestment Act. This was an attempt to get middle-income and low-income families into homes. Unfortunately, these families lacked the resources to make their payments. It was only a matter of time before many of those families defaulted on their loans.

Now that the government is on the hook for these corporations, it increased the liabilities we are adding up in this article.

Medicare

Usually when we talk about unfunded liabilities, the conversation usually turns to Social Security. It turns out that the Social Security shortfall is a problem, but it pales in comparison to the shortfall for Medicare.

Medicare is a pay-as-you-go program. Although some members of Congress warned about future problems with the system, most politicians simply ignored the potential for a massive shortfall. Medicare comes in three parts. Medicare Part A covers hospital stays, Medicare B covers doctor visits, and Medicare D was recently added as a drug benefit.

How big is the financial shortfall? Let me quote from a speech given Richard Fisher (President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas). He says:

The infinite-horizon present discounted value of the unfunded liability for Medicare A is $34.4 trillion. The unfunded liability of Medicare B is an additional $34 trillion. The shortfall for Medicare D adds another $17.2 trillion. The total? If you wanted to cover the unfunded liability of all three programs today, you would be stuck with an $85.6 trillion bill. That is more than six times as large as the bill for Social Security. It is more than six times the annual output of the entire U.S. economy.{4}

There are a number of factors that contribute to this enormous problem. First, there are the demographic realities that are also affecting Social Security. From 1946 to 1964 we had a baby boom followed by a baby bust. Never has such a large cohort been dependent on such a small cohort to fund their entitlement programs. Second, there is longevity. People are living longer lives than ever before. Third, the cost of medical treatment and technology is increasing. We have better drugs and more sophisticated machines, but these all cost money. Finally, we have a new entitlement (the prescription drug program) that is an unfunded liability that is one-third greater than all of Social Security.

Richard Fisher says that if you add the unfunded liabilities from Medicare and Social Security, you come up with a figure that is nearly $100 trillion. “Traditional Medicare composes about 69 percent, the new drug benefit roughly 17 percent and Social Security the remaining 14 percent.”{5}

So what does this mean to each of us? We currently have a population over 300 million. If we divide the unfunded liability by the number of people in America, the per-person payment would come to $330,000. Put another way, this would be a bill to a family of four for $1.3 million. That is over 25 times the average household’s income.

Consumer Debt

Up to this point we’ve been answering the question, Is America Going Broke? But now I would like to shift the focus and ask a related question. Are Americans going broke? While government debt has been exploding, so has consumer debt.

Let’s look at just a few recent statistics. Nearly half of all American families spend more than they earn each year. Personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high and increasing. It is estimated that consumers owe more than $2 trillion.

It is important to remember that although many Americans are significantly in debt, many others are not. In my earlier article on “Debt and Credit,” I pointed out how some of the statistics about credit card debt are misleading.{6}

The current statistics say that the average U.S. household has more than $9,000 in credit card debt. We also read that the average household also spends more than $1,300 a year in interest payments. While these numbers are true, they are also misleading. The average debt per American household with at least one credit card is $9,000. But nearly one-fourth of Americans don”t even own credit cards.

We should also remember that more than thirty percent of American households pay off their most recent credit cards bills in full. So actually a majority of Americans owe nothing to credit card companies. Of the households that do owe money on credit cards, the median balance was $2,200. Only about 1 in 12 American households owe more than $9,000 on credit cards.

The statistic is true but very misleading. That is also true of many other consumer debt statistics. For example, nearly two-thirds of consumer borrowing involves what is called “non-revolving” debt such as automobile loans. Anyone who has ever taken out a car loan realizes that he or she is borrowing money from the bank for a depreciating asset. But it is an asset that usually has some resale value (unlike a meal or a vacation purchased with a credit card).

But even in this case, the reality is different than perception. Yes, many families have car payments. But many other families do not have a car payment and owe nothing to the bank. So we have to be careful in how we evaluate various statistics about consumer debt.

The bottom line, however, is that government, families, and individuals are spending more than they have. Government is going broke. Families and individuals are going broke. We need to apply biblical principles to the subject of debt.

Biblical Perspective

Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a servant to the lender.” When you borrow money and put yourself in debt, you put yourself in a situation where the lender has significant influence over the debtor. This is true whether the debtor is an individual or an entire nation.

Many of the Proverbs also warn about the potential danger of debt (Proverbs 1:13-15; 17:18; 22:26-27; 27:13). While this does not mean that we can never be in debt, it does warn us about its dangers. It is never wise to go into debt, and many are now wondering if America and individual Americans are going broke.

Romans 13:8 says, “Owe nothing to anyone.” This passage seems to indicate that we should quickly pay off our debts. That would imply that Christians have a duty to pay their taxes and pay off their debts.

But what should we do if government continues to get further and further in debt? I believe that we should hold government officials responsible since it appears that they do not have any real desire to pay off its debt. Psalm 37:21 says, “The wicked borrows and does not pay back.” We should repay our debts as individuals, and government should pay its debts as well.

In the Old Testament, debt was often connected to slavery. Isn’t it interesting that both debts and slavery were cancelled in the year of Jubilee? It is also worth noting that sometimes people even put themselves in slavery because of debt (Deuteronomy 15:2, 12).

Since we live in the New Testament age, we do not have a year of Jubilee, but we need to hold government and ourselves accountable for debt. If we see a problem, we should address it immediately. Proverbs 22:3 says, “The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naïve go on, and are punished for it.” It is time for prudent people to take an honest appraisal of our financial circumstances.

When government is in debt this much, it really has only three options. It can raise taxes. It can borrow the money. Or it can print the money. While it is likely that government will raise taxes in the future, there does seem to be an upper limit (at least politically) to raising taxes. Borrowing is an option, but it is also unlikely that the U.S. government can borrow too much more from investors and other countries. That would suggest that the Federal Reserve will print more money, and so our money will be worth less.

In this article we have given you an honest appraisal of where we are as a country. The responsibility is now in our hands to hold government accountable and to take the necessary steps in our own financial circumstances.

Notes

1. Laurence Kotlikoff, “Is the United States Bankrupt?” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, July/August 2006, 88(4), pp. 235-49, research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/06/07/Kotlikoff.pdf.
2. Laurence Kotlikoff, “Is the U.S. Going Broke?” Forbes, September 29, 2008, www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2008/0929/034.html.
3. Ibid.
4. Richard W. Fisher, “Storms on the Horizon,” remarks before the Commonwealth Club of California (San Francisco, CA, May 28, 2008), www.dallasfed.org/news/speeches/fisher/2008/fs080528.cfm.
5. Ibid.
6. Kerby Anderson, “Debt and Credit,” http://tinyurl.com/6ocap8 .

© 2008 Probe Ministries

Gingrich discusses the war on terror at the National Press Club Video, 5:23

Gingrich: “I’m deeply worried…